Harry Is Where!
by reaverulez
Summary: Harry is transported to Rune-Midgard in an act of accidental magic where a new family awaits him. How will he react when he returns to his original world and how will Hogwarts deal with a boy that half the male population has their heart set on marrying? Slash, Evil Dumblefuck, Good Voldy, good Malfoys, SinX/Gypsy/Clown Harry, Harry/OC Gunslinger. Rated for future crude humor
1. Baby Novice

AN: Honestly this is a plunny that had been gnawing at my brain for a while now and decided to try righting a chapter out to see how the reads of FF might like it. So if you want, review and tell me what you think. i'll be hosting a poll on my page of what Job you think Harry should be and I will say this now. This fic is based on the game not the manga, meaning no Roan or Takius...Because I hate them. BUT, if you have a RO character you want me to include, send me a screenshot and name/ personality and i'll work him/her into the story somehow! Until then, Review and tell me what YOU want to see out of this fic

Disclaimer: PUH-LEASE do you think if I owned any rights to Ragnarok or HARRY POTTER that I would be writing Fanfiction instead of making a rewrite where Harry gropes Oliver Wood after Quidditch practice and kisses Cedric in his last moments at the graveyard?

Vernon Dursley was never the type of man to express positive emotion. No sir, not him, he was a devout pessimist and sceptic as well as a traditionalist. These things coupled with an unhealthy amount of rage coupled in meant one thing, 'if you are different from me in anyway, I hate you and it's your fault'. It just so happened that his bitter wife was truly the only one that could understand such values and loved him for them. With such a loving couple there could be no problems, at least in their home, especially not with their adorable and well brought up son Dudley.

Truly nothing could be wrong with his family...Except for one thing. "You dratted little freak!", this one little thing happened to be about 2 feet tall, and four years old. He was the bleeding, festering wound of his family, the bane of his perfectly normal existance. His disgusting,waste of space nephew, Harry Potter and right now he was about to learn that freakishness was not to be accepted in his house!

Harry cringed in fear at his uncle's loud bellow, the man's face purple and his mustache moving with his sweat and spittle covered upper lip. Harry didn't mean to be a freak, honest! But when Dudley said he would take away his blankey if he didn't get him a cookie he tried every way he could! Aunty wouldn't give him a cookie even if he said it was for Dudley, and his arms were still too small and Harry too short to reach the jar! When he saw Dudley crawling back out of his cupboard he had to do something. So, Harry did what he figured out he could do when he was three, he thought about a cookie real hard. He wished for it so bad he was already feeling it in his hand, and when he opened his eyes he tossed the summoned sweet at his mean cousin!

Uncle Vernon had seen it all happen from the connecting dining room, and he was not happy about seeing it. His uncle grabbed him in a tight grip about the back of his neck, yelling obscenities while his aunty proceeded to cook her family dinner. Dudley sat on Harry's blanket while he ate the cookie and watched his cousin be thrown about the room. It was always a show to see Harry get hurt, especially when his father let him join in. Today though,was unlike the other days where Harry was punished, today was very special indeed.

Today was the day that Dudley had been looking forward to all month! His daddy said if he could manage to catch Harry during Harry Hunting every day for two weeks, his daddy would let him play a special computer game with Piers, his best buddy. Piers was the on who had found the web page for it and after some fake crying his daddy said he could play only if he caught the freak Harry. Needless to say Dudley was on pins and needles as he sat downstairs watching his Daddy beat the freak senseless while upstairs his computer was running the patching process for the game. Dudley couldn't wait to start Ragnarok Online!

Dudley's thoughts were interrupted by his dad walking past him with the freak in his hands and tossed him _through_ the door to his cupboard under the stairs.

Harry closed his two black eyes tight as he groaned in pain in his uncle's arms. He hurt so much, anything, he wanted anything to happen so that he would be away from all of this pain. He could barely see right now as his glasses had been smacked off his face and under the couch. His tummy and chest ached and he was afraid to breathe. It wasn't till his uncle picked him up and tossed him that he let out a gasp. Everything seemed to slow down as his magic reacted to the true danger he was in of dying, it switched it's main focus from healing his wounds to saving his life. The safest place the magic could carry it's beloved user was the portal that was opened upstairs. The portal to the world of Rune-Midgard.

It would be years before the story of Harry Potter was ever to start again, and when it did, the wizarding world would be knocked on it's side.

* * *

Raucous laughter and the sound of the ocean blended beautifully with the sound of music on the island of Comodo. One of the more secluded lands of Rune Midgard, Comodo was an island nation and resort area with its own peaceful town and lively nightlife. Their entertainment industry was second only to one other town and the peoples' beauty was uncompared. Comodo was truly a place of wonder to look upon and even more a dream to hear, for it was this island which made the music of all the lands of Rune Midgard. Bards of legend and dancers who mystified audiences with their grace were all trained in Comodo before they were sent to journey the lands and spread the love for music where they went. It was on this island where a lone couple stood at the edge of the beach, allowing the water to crest over their bare feet in the sand as they looked to the rising orange sun.

The two figures held hands in a loving grip as they looked to the horizon, the gold bands on their fingers sparkling like the sea itself before night. The woman was the first to catch many eyes upon her, as she was wont to do with her profession. She wore a sheer translucent silver over robe and underneath a pair of royal blue sheer, billowy pants that were cinched tight at the ankles. Layered like a skirt over the pants were several pure white draping cloths that connected at the hip with a golden circle holding the knot in place. Her top was a bronze bikini that curved perfectly around her modest breasts while semi-precious jewels hung in tassels along the hem. Her wrists were covered in many intricately designed bangles of silver, made in various countries to show the true depth of her travels to any who knew the designs. The most striking features about her though were unhindered by any clothing however, for her hair lays naturally along the curve of her back, blowing loose in the wind in a graceful dance of it's own. It's color black as midnight yet shining blue in the light of the suns rays. Her eyes were the color of the sea it's self, and her lips plump and bright red. This beauty however, was now lost on the onlookers of the couple, for in her eyes were tears of deepest sadness.

The only one who could ever truly understand such sadness right now was her husband, who was experiencing exactly the same. This man was truly handsome, even in his state of distress. His face a stoic mask of aristocratic glory that appeared to be shaped by greatest the of sculptors. His eyes set a little wide apart were no less striking in their royal violet color, so dark that his iris seemed to bleed its black color into the sclera. His hair hung loose like his wife, falling delicately to his shoulders like a curly pile of white cotton. His clothing showed his status in society as prosperous, befitting to gentlemen of high caliber and taste. He wore a bleached white poet shirt tight around his middle and loose about the arms, cuffed at his wrists with gold buttons. Over the shirt was a bottle green vest that only seemed to accentuate his frame, pinstriped with a dark gold color and elegant brass buttons. His pants matched in color to his vest, loose and billowing in the wind before being tightened at the upper calf by drawstrings. The pants were held up by a set of black cross belts that seemed to be polished regularly by the look of their shiny surface, and held gold buckles and accents along them. Tears were streaming from his eyes silently as he released his dear love's hand and pulled her close to his chest, turning her away from the sun.

"My sweet soul-charmer, please weep no more."Carrigan, the male, spoke to his sobbing wife as she burrowed into his chest and held on for dear life. He had said these words this very day, every year since their third year of marriage, and it was always the same. His wife was not alone in her tears as the people of the island watched from the doors of their homes. It was always a sobering sight to see this horrible anniversary, for even if the island's children could not understand, anyone over ten knew why the beautiful couple cried this day, and they cried with the two of them. Carrigan watched as the sun made it's way fully over the horizon and softly, slowly, wiped away his dear wife's tears. It was a day of mourning to the couple, the day they had lost their ability to ever be a complete family.

Many of the islanders were now inside their homes, businesses starting for the day and tourists pouring from the inn to enjoy a day in the sun. Children from lands beyond Comodo ran for the beach,starting sand castles with their parents and laughing while Carrigan looked on in sadness and envy.

It had been a long time since the man was a simple bard, but he remembered those times all too well, good and bad. Looking back as he always did this day, a sad smile came to his face while he held his now fitfully sleeping wife. Carrigan had only been 14 when his journey as a wandering bard began. His songs were written by his family before him as a gift of his journey and he swore on his strings and soul that by the time he returned home, he will have made the world dance to his tune with the family songs and the melodies he was tasked to write on his own.

He was young and foolish back then, playing in inns and town squares for extra zenny when his pocket money ran dry and hiring dancers for impromptu performances whenever he could just so people would bother to stop and listen to his melodies. The first year of his adventure was fraught with hardships and little food, having to camp outside towns from being denied entrance to inns. After all, who wanted a new, inexperienced bard to play for them when they had a perfectly good jester with more skill to do it for them instead?

Carrigan shook his head with a wan smile on his face, lost in the memory of his younger self begging a troupe of dancers to stay for just one more song. The girls of the troupe were not impressed,and by the twitching of some of their hands he sped out of there quick before they could each for their whips. He spent that same day playing sad heartbreak songs in the city of Izlude, the loss of the troupe cutting his wallet severely. At the end of the day he barely made enough to afford some overcooked and underweight chicken and a few carrots. But as he ate his meager meal and walked along the town's cobbled streets, he spotted her.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever set eyes on. So godlike he stood, mouth agape, while his food dropped from his hands. The dancer was doing moves that seemed impossible to most mortals as a member of the thieves guild played a fast and heart pounding beat on a pair of drums. The sound was a distinct Morrocan flavor as she captivated her small audience, twisting and weaving around as if she were dancing with the notes of the song itself. Coins plinked into the tiny collecting pan at the thief's feet as she started to wind down with the song before it finally ended. She drew applause and compliments to her, smiling coyly behind her veil, while many children clapped and squealed, pleading for an encore.

Carrigan blinked away the tears and shook away the shock at seeing such beauty before him. Just as a new tempo on the drum started up by the smiling thief, Carrigan pulled the violin from its ties on his back and drew it up to his chin, this was his chance! The bard smiled at the two temporarily stunned performers as he stepped through the crowd, playing along quickly with the drum as he seemed to take the song to a new level. The dancing woman grinned at him brightly as she played with the new addition to the song, changing her dance from speedy and sultry to upbeat and dramatic. She moved as if walking on air and the thief now sat next to him was bopping his head to the beat with a smile. It was two hours before the crowd finally dispersed but Carrigan didn't even notice, his eyes on the beautiful swan before him the entire performance.

Carrigan smiled, truly happy for the first time ever this anniversary, his first meeting with his best friend and future wife would always be his happiest memory. After the street performance was done the two approached the bard with bright grins on their faces as they practically dragged him to the room at the inn they shared to talk. He explained his quest to the two of them, and they explained to him about themselves. The thief was a boy named Ecklar who had been abandoned as a boy but saved by a stalker of the thieves guild from the streets. He had lived with the guild all his life and was now out on his own to try to discover his family when he met the dancer.

Her name was Rakkid, and in his opinion there was no name more beautiful to his ears. She was a dancer, older then him by two years and traveling with Ecklar, she had met the boy by accident when performing in Morroc when she had accidentally fallen into the pyramid the guild was camped out in. Carrigan laughed at the memory of her story about that incident and Ecklar never let her live it down, even now all these years later. Ecklar had been Rakkid's landing spot in the middle of a thieves guild tavern while he was being tested on how to use poisons from animals effectively. Ecklar and her had spent three days in bed arguing over who's fault it was that they were both poisoned before Farid, the stalker who took in Ecklar popped them both upside the head to get them to shut up and get along. When they were released Ecklar began traveling with the dancer in order to, according to him, "prevent the misfortune of some other poor soul from ever being her companion."

The dancer huffed at this and moved from the thief's side of the room to pout next to Carrigan instead. Ecklar, seeing Carrigan's blush at being near Rakkid, smirked and winked at him as if he knew exactly why he was uncomfortable. Needless to say, after that night the three were cemented as friends and traveling companions, making music and enjoying each others company as they worked towards their goals.

The jester sighed and sat beside the bed with his wife in calm silence. When after one year Carrigan finally found the courage to play a love song for Rakkid she calmly stepped to him and raised one eyebrow before saying, "you finally figured out I have a crush on you! Did Ecklar tell you?" This caused him to glare at the boy for keeping it secret while the younger teen held his laughter behind his hands. It was only three months longer in their travels when they sped their way back to Prontera with a stolen tuxedo and wedding dress courtesy of Ecklar so they could have their wedding. Ecklar played the role of best man perfectly and when the time to present the rings arrived, he cried at the exchange. After the announcement of nuptials and a reception held in a tavern, Ecklar hugged them both goodnight and announced a piece of news he had been saving for this moment.

"I hope you two know this by now but, in case you don't, I wanted to tell you guys that during our time together. You have become my family, the big brother and sister I could always dream of having but never hoping to ask for." He whispered with tears in his eyes, "I...I could never see myself without you two in my life now, I love you both...But, but since I have found my family in you two, my quest is over now", it took the couple nearly five minutes to unfreeze from the announcement.

"What do you mean?" Rakkid asked as composed as she could be while Carrigan pulled his little brother into a hug. He knew what it meant when a thief finished his quest, when the honor of a quest is yours, you must return to the guild and take on another. Rakkid broke down and nearly tried to envelop Ecklar into her very being she held him so tight. The thief tried to cheer up his best friend and sister by making fake dramatic choking sounds at the hug, bringing tearful laughs to the dancer. The boy promised the two that he would never say goodbye to them, for he was always only a letter away if they needed him, and the next morning, Ecklar was gone.

Once again the Jester's musings were interrupted by Rakkid stirring awake in bed. She blinked up at him with red, puffy eyes before taking his hand and being pulled into a sitting position on the soft mattress. By the look on her husband's face she knew he was remembering the days of their youth, and asked him at what part of their journey he was remembering. Carrigan told her with a soft smile and she laughed, their little brother would always put a smile on her face, even today. It was a few minutes of joy at the memory before the mood sobered in the home of the couple.

After Ecklar had left the party the newlyweds continued to play around Rune Midgard, gaining reputation as gifted performers and drawing crowds while keeping correspondence with their little brother while he quested with his new job of assassin to the guild. They were truly days of happiness at the time when they finally came to Morroc again, meeting up with Ecklar to reform their old group, if only for a week or so before going back to their home of Comodo. That was when the accident had happened. Ecklar and the performers had just been reborn and were already well on their way to discovering their new skills and jobs of Jester, Gypsy, and Assassin Cross. They were lucky enough the rebirth allowed them their youth back because if they had not then the new dances, songs, and skills would be difficult to learn and maintain with their already set in stone experiences. The three were journeying to Comodo one last time as a party to catch up on old times and relieve the excitement of being together once more before the assassins called Ecklar back to Morroc.

They had been traveling for days on end, talking and laughing and telling stories of their time separated. But when they passed through Hugel to trade some items collected off monsters for an airship ticket to a port town, disaster struck. None of the residents had time to notice the town guard acting more panicked then was normal until the invasion happened. Monsters seemed to be poured into the town, raining from the sky out of thin air from the meager porings which were actually considered cute and harmless, to the king of the demons Baphomet himself. The three of the siblings were huddled together for safety, trying desperately to help push back the more aggressive beasts in the pandemonium of the invasion. They launched arrows and poison knives, tarot cards and katars flashed throughout the air around them. They cut down as many as they could,but not without a heavy loss. Baphomet himself was the one thing they wished never to cross even as a group, but fate was not on their side that day when he stepped into their path.

His horns black and menacingly curled, the scythe a dark amethyst color with blood drenching it's blade as he cut down even his own allies in his conquest. And when he spotted the three he let loose a bellowing roar and charged forward. If it were not for Rakkid's whip yanking the goat-man's horn to the left and a pair of katars being shoved into the beast's chest. The scythe would have cut Carrigan's dear wife in half at thee waist. But as the foul beast died it took three high priests nearby collectively healing her to even save her. It was not till the angry wound faded that his wife awoke and started to cry and scream like a woman possessed.

It was two hours later when the reason for her screaming became apparent, The child she had not even known about, had been destroyed by the scythe, and yet she was still forced to deliver. Carrigan's and Ecklar's own voices joined with the hysterical crying as the priests tried to see what went wrong, and found that her womb had been destroyed by the attack. Three dead-eyed, weary, and shocked people entered comodo one week later, and there they had stayed for ten years. On this day, every year, three voices still cried out at the unfairness of the world and the loss of the baby boy who would never feel his mother's love, to see his father's smile of pride, or to laugh at his uncle's silly jokes.

It was a story of deep sadness for the siblings of Comodo and due to the news articles in Hugel, all of the locals of Comodo knew of it. Ecklar had been so fraught with grief he had left the assassins guild after gaining his promotion, none argued against his reason for doing so, and moved to Comodo to be with his dear brother and sister. Ecklar had not touched his violin since, fearing if he did and started to travel again he would lose his other precious family, and that he could not afford. Rakkid was the only one who kept on dancing, feeling it was the only way to fight off her sadness. Her steps had changed though, what was once fast, exciting, and happy her dances were now slow and played to funeral marches and low tones. Her beauty never faded but her soul slowly did as she kept thinking over what could have been.

Ecklar quietly entered the home of his siblings and pulled Carrigan's wife into a strong hug, crying silently on her shoulder while she sobbed in earnest. None of them would leave the house that day, and when night fell, none of them would notice the sleeping baby on their doorstep in the soft warm sands. The gods themselves cried for the emptiness on Comodo in the humans' hearts, they had been so cruel to them with the invasion but none had ever admitted to calling the thing in Hugel in the first place. To them the loss of an innocent soul never seeing the world was an outrage. That is, until a foreign soul had entered their realm.

The gods cooed and smiled at the adorable little human before an idea came to Odin. He looked upon the three siblings on Midgard and pointed them out to the little boy held in his arms. Without a word the boy smiled and nodded at the one-eyed man and the other gods and goddesses smiled with him as Odin gently set the boy down on the clouds and watched him fall through. The magic of Rune Midgard taking nature into its own hands as the boy shrank and his memory seemed to blank, a little tickling sensation made the scar on his forehead itch as the new baby was sent into a blissful sleep.

Rakkid would never produce another child, but she would have a baby, her very own son that would never replace her unborn one, but she would love just the same.


	2. Baby Supernovice

AN: HEYO! i'm reposting this as I type out a new chapter and drawing an emblem for myself! yes I put chapters one and two together for length, hope y'all don't mind! Anyway since I could not find anywhere else to post with NEARLY enough traffic I have returned here in hopes that someday this stupidity over Reading The Books stories passes over.

Enjoy~

* * *

"Step gently, Etrigan, gently."  
"Yes momma!", A child's voice answered Rakkid as a little boy went through her maze again. It had been four years since the little boy had been found on the doorstep as a baby, and two since he had started training. Rakkid had sewn the novice armor herself for her little boy and ever since he never wanted to take the thing off until Rakkid started his training as a dancer.

She smiled fondly at Etrigan as his messy black hair tousled about his head like a short thorny crown, dazzling green eyes capturing the souls of his parents and uncle like no emerald ever could. Watching the dance she remembered the shock of her lifetime when the morning after the anniversary, she saw a little bundle of cloth inch through the door like a little babbling worm. She was amused when the tiny boy finally tired of the baby blanket and wriggled out only to fall in her lap where she was waiting to pick him up. No note was left with the baby asking to take care of him but something was very... Odd about him.

He seemed to have very attentive eyes that looked around at everything with curiosity, taking in his surroundings before looking to her. After checking the baby for any sign of who he might be, she found a peculiar marking on his right calf. It was a birthmark unlike any other she had ever seen before, shaped like a crow. It could almost have been a tattoo it was so dark and detailed but when she touched it she found only unscathed, soft skin. Rakkid was confused why the baby was in her arms instead of his mother's, but another part of her mind demanded she hold the boy close and to call him her own.

It was the sight of Rakkid breast-feeding that met Carrigan when he awoke that morning and stomped into the living room, and he froze on the spot at her dazzling and motherly smile.

He looked at her, then the strange baby, back to her, strange baby again, and fainted as best suiting his confusion. Of course Ecklar laughed uproariously at him and took the news of the strange adoption in stride, taking hold of his new baby nephew and not letting him down unless absolutely necessary.

Etrigan made a sudden twisting motion in his dance, his right foot's toe balancing precariously on the rim of a small pot while his left leg arched high into the air at a 180 degree angle, his midsection and arms spun about to the right, wind-milling his legs in a beautiful butterfly-flip that brought him onto another pot, this one a bit larger, allowing him to plant both feet on the rim before continuing the dance.

Rakkid clapped with Ecklar in pride, her son's training in dance was going well enough to call him a gypsy like herself at this point, but he would not tell Etrigan such a thing until he was finished training. No child of hers would turn arrogant and overconfident, no sir.

Carrigan had been the first to teach their son his abilities when Etrigan was only two, both musically inclined parents agreeing that there son would learn to play at least one musical instrument. So it was decided that Etrigan would learn the drums first to give him a basic knowledge of rhythm and tempo.

Once Ecklar had taught him all of the songs he knew from his desert homeland , Etrigan took to the arts like he was born specifically to play. It was the deep sense of knowing that brought Rakkid to teach him to dance as well as learning the music he would move to, saving Ecklar's training for last as it would be the most dangerous.

Rakkid was snapped out of her thoughts and memories when Etrigan did the one thing she would forever remember as the proudest moment of her life. Her son, at only five years old, had done one of her moves to end his dance. The song had stopped with Etrigan reaching the last step and jar, only the size of a shot glass after work his way down again from the biggest of the jars. He was spot-still, balancing the ball of his left foot over the hole at the top of the jar, while his head and chest were thrown back at a 90 degree angle to his waist and legs, arms thrown back as if he were greeting the sun for the day.

It would not be long before Etrigan's training would be complete in the ways of dancing, she was sure of it.

**FOUR YEARS LATER**

* * *

It was a nine year old boy that stepped carefully about the house today, his birthday was today, and unfortunately for him, that meant he would be tested today. Normally Etrigan would not mind the testing his parents and uncle put him through. Today however, he was nervous.

Uncle Ecklar had been training him day in and day out since he was seven in the use of various weapons, poisons, fighting styles, and other sundry thief and trickster skills. Despite his harsh demeanor in training his uncle was his best friend, offering a hug or story whenever Etrigan needed or wanted one, or teaching him a new song he learned when he was back from a quest. This b=came with it's own problem however, as whenever he left, he came back with new ideas on how to train his nephew.

Etrigan was tested on his abilities every year on his birthday about everything he had learned since he was five. It were these tests which had made his parents proud of him, never failing one until his eighth birthday, the year he had spent training with uncle Ecklar.

Etrigan wasn't ever exposed to such dangerous training as his uncle's before. While there was always possibility of injuring himself dancing, he had never had to balance his feet on a katar's point for meditation. While using his mother's old whip was risky and often hard to maneuver, the corded material was never coated with poison that was strong enough to drop a Lord of Death in only a few hits!

So yes, Etrigan was very jumpy today as he lurked quietly as he could through the caves near their home, shifting the shadows around him to remain invisible. A whip was clenched tightly in one hand and in his other a deck of cards.

A quiver of arrows sat at his hip, the heads dipped in a poison of his own making, designed to burn the skin and cause blood to flow like water upon entering a body. A pair of daggers were crisscrossed at his back for quick draws and on his belt were two katars poisoned the same as the arrows.

He wasted no movement as he slunk through the caves, checking the shadows by using his whip to fire arrows into the shady corners before ducking into them. Ecklar watched his nephew from a high ledge of the cave, impressed and proud of his siblings' little boy as he used his skills so well that it was hard for even the assassin cross to find him!

Then a look of forced calm and acceptance came to the assassin's face, today was Etrigan's final test, but it was not against himself. No, his nephew had seen his fighting too many times, he had sparred with his uncle and was familiar with him.

No, what Etrigan faced today was a test that was both difficult and dangerous, for this test was kill or be killed. Carrigan, when he had heard of Ecklar's idea had nearly strangled his brother! It was only Rakkid's calm acceptance of the test that stuck in his mind, she too knew that his must be done, if only so she could help pick up the pieces if Etrigan broke instead of him learning the hard way that the world would not be kind to him away from home.

Etrigan was nearly panting, he was sweaty and his hands were shaking from nerves, it had been four hours since the test had begun yet he had not even heard his uncle yet. He had searched the cave system end to end and found nothing of his favorite assassin cross. So now he hid in wait for the man, hoping to ambush the man once he thought the area all clear.

That was when Etrigan heard it, it was a soft and far away sound, but he knew it well. It was a sound he had learned to fear from his training worse then the whistling of arrows near his head or the sound of his father's aggressive songs. This sound, was the snapping of a Bloody Branch.

Etrigan's head shot up, looking for the source of the sound,wary of whatever came of it. That's when he found his uncle on the ledge of the cave's entrance. He was holding in his hands the two pieces of the magical item and smiling sadly at his nephew as he tossed them below the ledge. He pointed to the now smoking branch then to Etrigan, making a slicing motion with his finger drawing across his neck.

The boy's eyes widened in panic and disbelief, but Ecklar only nodded and tried to keep an impassive faces as he dug in his pocket and showed his nephew five more of the dark magical items. Etrigan let his head drop in despair, he felt as if his fear had consumed him, leaving only the thought of impending death to stay in his mind.

Bloody branches, when whole and undamaged, were truly dangerous things, when used properly they displace certain monsters from their natural habitat and bring them to the location where you throw the broken pieces of the branch. But unlike their cousin items, Dead Branches, Bloody branches were only used to summon the most powerful of monsters, they wasted no magic on bringing the weak to fight, and Etrigan now had to face six of them.

Smoke flowed from the broken branch as it expended it's bloody and unholy magic to displace the monster. The thick plumes gathering, warping, coalescing into a basic and vague frame. Etrigan backed away a few steps, preparing the cards in his left hand while his right held the whip in a stance where he could use it to slingshot the arrows on his hip quickly.

The monster that appeared in the smoke almost made him turn tail and run in fright. This...THING could once have been human, but no longer could he make such a claim. It was tall and broad, his body like that of an ape with a seemingly too small head. It's entire form was covered in bloody and cracked armor that seemed to glow a toxic purple color. It's face shrouded by the metal mask he wore, wickedly pointed horns hanging under it's jawline while the mask wore a constant twisted grin. In it's hands were a positively evil sword and shield set. The tower shield was tall and heavy looking, Shaped in the face of a skeleton with pointed teeth and the eyes had been pierced through by large spikes. The shield itself seemed to be bleeding, adding on to Etrigan's fear before he saw the blade this hellish warrior carried.

The knight held a sharp longsword that looked entirely too large for any human man to hold it! It was thick and shining evilly, and along it's normal edge were several different blades sprouting off of it like a shark's dorsal fins.

Etrigan had learned of this monster from his father, the guardian of Glast Heim dungeon, The Bloody Knight! The demonic warrior roared, it's metal face twisted in anger at it's summons from the branch, and it demanded satisfaction. Etrigan was quick to make the first strike, overcoming his fear of the disgusting being's abilities as he tossed one of his tarot cards into the air after pumping it full of his magical power. When the card began it's decent from the air he cracked his whip then flung it forward, snapping the end of the chord into the card. The tarot flashed with bright light as it was thrown forward into the Bloody Knight, it's sharp corners digging into the thing's breastplate before activating. Etrigan breathed a deep sign of relief and elation, he had gotten the death card!

The Knight fell to his knees in pain, he roared as he suddenly found the card in his chest, the death was the worst of the arcana for anyone to have the misfortune of it cast on them, destroying all but one last vestige of life in the afflicted victim.

A quick swing of the whip from Etrigan and the monstrous knight fell dead, the card flying out of the corpse of the beast and shuffling back into the tarot once more.

The boy almost let out a whoop of excitement but paled as he saw another broken branch fall right at his feet where the Bloody Knight once laid. Etrigan growled in anger, shooting his uncle a glare for the lack of warning but was only met with an impassive stare as the new branch started to spout smoke.

The smoke this time was strange, darker in color from the last branch, it almost seemed to have taken left over smoke from the Bloody Knight's summoning into itself to bring the new monster to the caves.

The boy backed away, deeper in the shadows then he was with the knight as the air began to clear again. The smoke had finally made the rough frame of the creature it would summon, but before Etrigan could get a clear view and shot at the beast a bright blue light illuminated the room. He did not even get a look at the new beast that appeared because as soon as it was in front of him it had warped itself! All that stood in the place of the monster were two broken bloody branches that summoned it.

Ecklar was torn between laughing and sighing in disappointment, leave it to Etrigan's luck to get a monster that didn't even want to attack, now there was some powerful creature roaming around the caves with the ability to teleport! He could hear Carrigan in his mind berating him into killing it off for summoning the thing in the first place.

Etrigan was grinning up at his uncle like the mischievous little trickster he was, watching his uncle's eyebrow twitch and a blue vein in his forehead start to grow more apparent. The assassin wasted no time in pulling out the third branch and aggravatingly snapping it in half before dropping it neatly on the pile with the other two.

The smoke gathered faster this time then with the past two! A fog the shade of dark gray rain clouds spun together in a miniature whirlwind, rising all the way up to the cave's ledge where Ecklar stood. What the man saw made him pale, his little nephew better be ready for the fight of his life with this one! "Little shade! Ice arrows!" Etrigan yelled commandingly and smiled in pride as his nephew immediately obeyed him, tossing his poisoned quiver aside and putting his cards away to reach the frozen arrows at his back.

Etrigan pulled his arrows to his waist readying his whip again but instead of grabbing his cards back up he dropped the straps holding up his katars, gabbing one in one hand and wrapping the end of his whip around the other. He finished preparing just as the smoke parted to reveal his opponent.

Etrigan blinked in shock, eyes wide and jaw on the floor, he couldn't even feel fear he was so astonished by what actually came from the smoke! The being was almost shaped like the mythical Djinn, having no legs and instead a trail of fire in a conical shape that widened at the being's waist.

His skin was nude and colored a bright red, shining with the fire that made up the thing's body. Etrigan would almost consider his muscular build attractive, if not for the head adorning the body. Ifrit's face was a mask of pure rage, flaming maw breathing bright white flames, how dare humans summon his divine presence! He looked upon the feeble insect that had dared to look him in the eye when he had risen from the smoke, and found him lacking. Naturally, he detested the sight of anything human, and so took it upon himself to dispose of the tiny mortal before him.

Etrigan did NOT like the look on Ifrit's face as the fire elemental roared at him and charged. He saved himself with a quick side roll, nearly being hit by a flaming punch sent his way. This dodge had it's setbacks however, like being right in the line of fire for the beast's flaming breath. Etrigan snapped his whip forward, distracting the elemental by swinging the now bladed rope in a fast sweeping motion followed by several jabs with the katar in Etrigan's other hand.

Ifrit grunted in annoyance as he felt the nicks and cuts of a few of the jabs, dodging and countering the rest. It was one more jab glancing his side that finally pissed him off enough to get serious.

Etrigan gasped, trying to keep up the onslaught but the heat just kept intensifying around Ifrit's general surroundings, even Ecklar had removed his plated jacket to cool down. Ifrit was sending the flames of Hell after the boy in wide arcs, forcing him into a corner as he tried to fall back and use his frozen arrows to deal some damage.

**"EEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"**, A loud cry of pain echoed across the cave, followed by the smell of burning flesh as Etrigan's entire frame was racked with burns. Ifrit had backed him into a narrow part of the cave only to blast it full of fire as a distraction. When Etrigan had tried to jump free the beast pulled him into a full body hold, his fiery body doing the rest of the work for him as it pressed tight to the human. Ecklar watched, shocked as his nephew was burned before him in some kind of sick hug, tears pooling in his eyes. He was too high up to save him, the ledge's shape would not allow him to climb down in time to even recover his baby nephew's body!

Ifrit laughed as he heard the beautiful music of the boy's screams die away to a pitiful whimper, dropping the smoking flesh-ling to the rocky dirt below. The boy let out a cracked sort of whine in pain as Ifrit laughed, human misfortune and pain amusing the metaphorical devil of Rune Midgard.

This laughter was intense and ringing in Etrigan's ears, adding to his pain. Every fiber of his being was screaming in absolute agony. If he were even able to think right now it would only cause more pain for the effort. He could feel his skin cracking and crumbling off of boiling muscle tissue, he had no eyelids anymore, no skin, no hair, all burned away by the flames of the hellish being now approaching again to finish him off.

The boy's open mouth let out a half-whine half-scream as he tried to move away only to renew his hurting by doing so. Ifrit's laughter and approach was like looking into death itself, and Etrigan knew that was exactly what was happening as the thing loomed over him with one hand raised.

The finishing blow would have left Etrigan nothing more then ash if the fire-djinn had not been interrupted. Because, at the last moment of his attack the fiery hand was blocked, by a...banana? Ecklar was rapidly descending the ledge to get to his nephew when he saw the oddest sight he would ever be witness to.

Apparently Ifrit was just as confused as Ecklar by the block and the object which had stopped his flames, until he saw the thrower of the tropical fruit. There, just across from Ifrit now only a few steps away from Etrigan, was a tree.

The foliage was odd enough to see in the caves but what made the banana-palm tree-creature thing even more odd was the fact that it was MOVING. It's slow crawling motion accompanied by more pelting of bananas at Ifrit, charged with enough magic to make them as painful as ebony rocks being chucked at him. Ifrit fought the tree every step back but was quickly losing ground, forcing himself to warp away to regroup and hopefully surprise the evil shrubbery.

It was only after this very weird site that Ecklar resumed climbing down the ledge and slid to a stop at Etrigan's side where the tree had stopped moving.  
"Etrigan! Etrigan!", Ecklar yelled in panic, digging out as many healing potions as he could and dumping the vials out one after another onto the boy's flesh. The potions normally would heal very deep cuts and burns but when the entirety of a body was as burnt as Etrigan's a few meager potions were not doing much to treat him.

Ecklar was letting tears flow freely as he poured his very last potion onto the boy's flesh, and saw it do nothing. He had destroyed him, he had caused this to happen all for a stupid test! Now his nephew was-

Ecklar's thoughts were cut off as his jaw hit the floor, for he had now figured out exactly _WHAT_ the tree beside his nephew was, the monster from the second Bloody Branch! He had seen this tree before, he knew that, but he had no idea that _SHE_ would be here.

"Lady Tanee!", Ecklar gasped as she poked her head out from behind the tree, one of the few human-like powerful monsters, had help his nephew! What was even luckier was that this was one of the greatest monster healers alive*.

The Lady Tanee was a pretty little girl, dressed in a white bell- shaped lace dress with long curly red hair. Adorning her hair were two snow white flowers that matched her dress and forever guarding her was a living banana tree that would attack without warning yet aid Tanee's healing magics.

Ecklar bowed,his head on the ground in front of the lady with tears staining his face, "please! My Lady Tanee, please, please, please! Heal my nephew, My little Etrigan." Ecklar pleaded, casting away all pride leaving only hope and fear of his nephew's fate. Tanee made a face as if she was thinking, never speaking a word as the tree bent itself into a crescent as if to better hear it's charge. The little girl then made a decisive nod before hopping down off the tree's roots.

She stood inches away from Etrigan, her large wine red eyes blinking as if confused. This boy on the ground looked wrong to her, he used to be so pretty, that's why she got nervous when she entered the cave and warped away. Now this older boy was on his knees begging her to make him right again? She tilted her head in confusion as she looked at the boy's charred flesh, and, hoping she would not get shy around such a pretty human again, pumped her healing magics into him.

Tanee was nervous for two reasons, the first being that she had only ever healed one human before and he turned on her, and the second being that if she healed the boy he would be pretty again and maybe not want to be her friend, thinking her inferior. Ecklar was once again stunned, the more and more natural state of his experiences when it came to his nephew and impossible situations, because now he was doing the impossibly (well- highly improbable anyway) even an inch from death!

The lady Tanee herself was cocooning Etrigan in light the color of spring grass, new and green as it wound about the burned boy in thick ropes of concentrated magic. Scarred muscle peeling away leaving new and pink tissue behind in it's place, black and flaked skin falling to the dirt as tan and slightly goose-bumped skin seemed to grow in patches about his body. Black, messy hair shone in the light of the glow as it grew anew from a bald scalp, stopping below his ears just like it was before, and verdant green eyes blinked in astonishment. What seemed like a lifetime of recovery was being done in minutes by the shy girl, the white blooms in her hair glowing the same green of channeled magic that was now fading, leaving behind not a trace of the flames of Ifrit's body. Moments passed and finally Etrigan had sat up from the ground, the green lights around him falling as the magic died away, whit blossoms and new grass shooting up in a small patch about him.

Tanee swayed on her feet as the guardian tree bent back to lend her support as she fell back onto it's trunk in exhaustion. Etrigan shook away the last vestiges of pain in his mind and looked up, locking his eyes with the little girl. Ecklar pulled him into a rough hug, muttering apologies and crying into his hair, touching him and holding him just to make sure he was alive and well, but his eyes never left Tanee's. The girl's eyes were drooping, as if she were trying her hardest to stay awake, the tree around her bent like a chair but it's leaves rustling as a warning to keep away.

Etrigan slowly left his uncle's embrace and stepped forward, hands up with palms open to show he meant no harm as he approached the girl who very well saved his life. Tanee's head was spinning as her guardian cautiously allowed the boy she healed to come to her. Etrigan gave the little girl a gracious smile as he held out his hand to her and she took it with a shy smile of her own, a tiny tinge of pink adorning her cheeks.

Their happiness would not last long however as a sudden whooshing sound filled the air followed by a blue light. Ifrit had returned and he was not amused, "Tanee you traitor, you have healed the unworthy and turned against your own!" He roared as he threw large flaming orbs at the two humans and one monster. Ecklar nodded at Etrigan and leaped away, even if Etrigan nearly died he could trust Etrigan not to make the same mistake twice. His nephew would fight and win dammit!

Tanee's tree stepped forward, the little girl safely tucked away in it's roots, to sit beside Etrigan, leaves rustling in anger at the fire-djinn. Etrigan nodded to it in agreement, he would not be alone in this fight, and loaded a large bundle of frozen arrows in his whips coils. The tree distracted the angry beast valiantly, it's flexible trunk moving like a worm as it hopped about, twisting in impossible ways to avoid the fire that Ifrit's body produced. The living foliage firing it's rock-hard projectiles back in retaliation, further distracting Ifrit so much he never even noticed Etrigan preparing to attack.

"ARROW VULCAN!" The boy yelled and threw his arrows point-down into the dirt in front of him then snapped his whip rapidly, knocking them up then shooting them forward. Arrow after arrow pierced through the living fire to stab into the beast's very core. Ecklar heard the ice melting then sizzling as it steamed in the air and watched in pride as Etrigan expended almost all of the frozen arrows he had, never wasting one as he found his mark each time. Ifrit was roaring in pain as the tree-guardian and Ecklar bombarded him from both sides, crippling ice and damaging nature attacks forcing him back as the two closed in. When they had finally forced the djinn into a corner the tree made a nodding motion at Etrigan who was putting his whip away to bring out the oddest of weapons.

In the boy's hands was held an elegantly designed flute, made of a glowing blue ore of some sort that shined like crystal yet clear as glass. The flute was made of Oridecon, a gift to his father from a wandering master smith who had given it to Etrigan on his birthday when finishing his study of the family songs. The same songs he was about to use now, "Sentencing of The Cursed!" He said softly as he placed his lips to the flute, and played a soft mournful note. Tanee awakened and peeked out of her resting place in the tree to watch and listen to the pretty human play a low and dark song that spelled misfortune to his target. Magic was poured into the song, Ifrit screaming yet no one hearing a sound from him as the song moved the magic around him. A dark purple mist started to pool at Etrigan's feet, a circle of clear space around him as the dark fog spread.

The tune he played was his family's most powerful melody, while not a death sentence it was a banishing unlike any other. Chains appeared in the purple mist, clinking heavily as the black metal shook and danced to the tempo of the song. Ifrit was desperately using his strongest fire to burn through the chains, the snake like links binding him and repressing everything he could produce. Etrigan struggled to hold onto the song,knees shaking in exhaustion as he let out a piercing high note and activated the last of the bindings of the song and the chains gave a sudden hard pull.

Ifrit's silence now broke as his roar of pain and anger shook the earth under them, Tanee ducking back into her tree's roots and plugging her ears as the djinn was dragged, clawing and screaming into the disappearing purple fog. As the cloud finally vanished, so too did the elemental with one last guttural cry, demanding satisfaction.


	3. Baby Thief

Dumbledore liked to think himself the epitome of the light in the magical world. Yes, not just England, the entire wizarding world. He was very proud of the fact that he had cursed his ex-boyfriend Gellert to an eternal life of solitude in the middle of nowhere. He was lauded with gifts simply because a former student of his(whom he carefully manipulated) became a dark lord that feared only him. Dumbledore was trusted with powerful positions in scholastic, national, and international governing yet nothing apparently got to his head.

The public would be wrong of course, but His greater good would be misinterpreted should he share his views with anyone. Truly, if anyone were to peek into his mind successfully, they would find that he was a man with a soul more twisted and black then Voldemort, only having a very convincing charisma and a kindly old smile. Yes, it was he who had created the boy that dared call himself "flight of Death" and only he would reap the rewards and glory of killing the unbearable twit.

For you see, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had a plan. All he would need was a few idiots backing his corner(a problem easily negated by his order), a pregnant woman under his rule-ahem-guidance, and a well placed imperious curse.

Once the curse was set in place soundlessly and wandlessly(the darker the soul, the easier unforgivables seem to be to cast) Trelawney spasmed and gasped as if in agony, her eyes rolling about in insanity, yelling out the words he had implanted into her tiny little mind. Dumbledore himself made sure that Severus was there to hear at least half of her crazy-talk by dropping hints to him about Lilly starting to question his loyalty, before Aberforth threw his potion's master out into the street.

Yes, the setup of the Potter family and the resulting sacrificial lamb(with added Horcrux) was now his to bring to the battlefield. The old man practically tap-danced as he saw the ever-loyal-oaf known as Hagrid deliver his new toy to it's current not-so-safe house. The Dursleys would insure that the Potter-spawn would be "well taken care of" and with his amortentia-dosed transfiguration mistress(mistress in every sense of the word) complacent with his choice he left the "savior" on the doorstep without so much as a "by your leave".

However now was not a good time to be patting himself on the back as he was assaulted by piercing shrieking, beeping, buzzing, and otherwise annoying sounds. The silver gadgets all about his room would usually only react one at a time, a clever little device he had invented.

The tiny silver objects, varying in size from a large marble to something as big as his fist, were linked to every magical core of students who had not even arrived at Hogwarts up into the current second year class. The bigger the device, the more magic the child had, and should they happen to meet with an "accident" the device would react accordingly. The silver objects were linked to his own magic as well, and if the student died the magic belonging to them would be pulled from them and into himself before the gadget and the child met with their final fate. After all, the epitome of the Light cannot be seen with waning magic in his later years, can he?

Albus smiled deviously, eyes practically letting out sparks as he found the largest object he had to date, the size of one of Hagrid's shoes. Then he gasped as the name on the instrument struck him like a knife to the heart, Harry Potter.

He would normally be perfectly willing to just touch his precious Magic-leech 457(patent pending, thank you very much) and feast on the magic that even now was surrounding it in a shining and practically divine light, but this simply would not do!

Albus stumbled back, wand aloft as he banished the device for study later, Harry would not die today. The headmaster grabbed his two-way mirror from his desk drawer, snapping out names so fast that anyone eavesdropping on him would think he was a parselmouth with the low hissing tone he had used. It was not but a few minutes later when three more people stepped into his office.

His paw-I mean Slav-I mean FOLLOWERS, yes that's the word, his followers of the order of the phoenix were all stone-faced as he swept his eyes over the three. Hagrid, Minerva, and Severus were in front of him, as ordered, with floo powder in one hand, wands in the other.

It was a determined quartet that stepped into the squib Figg's(heh, rhyming) home, they all shook off her hellos as they nearly shoved her out of the way to get outside and onto the street of Privet Drive. Albus led the other three up the street at a fast gait, Hagrid bringing up the rear with his black eyes in a furious glare not unlike Snape's. When they reached the pod-house of number 4 Privet Drive the three humans stepped away from the door before Hagrid knocked(punched) it so hard it fell inward, much to the muggles' shock and aggravation.

The four magicals entered the house with their power flowing in waves around them, Minerva's eyes slitted and glaring with all her might at the wretches she had told Dumbledore not to send Harry to. Dumbledore shouted over Vernon's angry exclamations about his door, "where is Harry Potter?" this bellow of a question was met with three reactions from the disfiguredly ugly family.

Vernon Dursley started to shake as if barely containing himself from strangling Albus, face purple and teeth grinding at even a mention of Harry's name. Petunia was ghostly pale, looking at the four with wide blue eyes, she was shaking in fear, taking a hand and placing it on Dudley's shoulder as if he could protect her. Dudley's reaction, to Albus, was the most worrying however, the fat boy was grinning sinisterly at the four adult magical beings as if he was responsible for his cousin's possible death.

Albus naturally went to the one he felt would give him information the quickest, the woman whom feared them. "Petunia!", He said with a smile, eyes twinkling, "tell me my dear girl, where is your nephew?"

Petunia winced at her name being called, "I-I don't kn-know...", her whispered stammering answered the ancient goat-fucker(Aberforth and he were lonely once...), unfortunate for her these were the exact words she should _not_ have said.  
"WHAT?", Three out of four of the wizards yelled in anger or shock while Severus only glared at the giraffe necked woman. Albus wasted no time now in putting all three of the muggles in a full-body bind, forcing their eyes open when he did so, he had snape and Minerva help levitate them all back into the Dursley living room while Hagrid put the front door back in it's frame and sat against it to block them from any intruders.

Dumbledore forced the wretchedly normal family onto the couch before looking to Severus. The two wizards nodded to each other and started from opposing ends of the family, Severus took Petunia's memories from her while Vernon was oh so easily mind-raped by Albus.  
The old headmaster was dancing in his head as he saw Vernon doing as expected, beating and starving Harry, demeaning him almost every way. This was perfect, Harry was left truly emotionally stunted and would depend on the first kindly old man to come along, starved for affection as he was. Then he got to the fourth year of Harry's stay with the Dursleys and his happy mental dance turned sour.

From the look of shock and disgust on Snape's face Albus could tell he was seeing the same memories as he did through the Dursley matriarch's eyes.  
"It appears Mr. Potter has not been in this home for some time due to a bout of accidental magic, but where is he if the wards are still live around the home?" Albus thought aloud before he saw Dudley. The same evil smirk was still on his face, even with the body bind on Albus could tell he would be wearing that look still with the spell taken off. His piggy little eyes were shining with unhidden joy at his freaky cousin's disappearance. He knew _exactly_ where Harry was.

Images flashed into Severus' and Dumbledore's minds as they each took their turns in finding out the truth behind their savior's disappearance.  
It was three years ago when Harry had disappeared, the two wizard's saw through Dudley's eyes how it had happened, the beating that Vernon gave the four year old enough to make Severus flinch. Harry had closed his eyes tight and curled in on himself before vanishing into dust without even the pop of apparation. When this happened Vernon let out a loud yell of anger and surprise while his wife turned green, sickened by magic in her house. Naturally, Dudley ignored such things as he had gotten his cookie from the freak anyway and his Ragnarok Online was almost done patching by now!

Severus watched through the child's eyes as he went to the computer in his room, ignoring the yelling from downstairs as he booted up the game, bouncing in his seat as the log-in screen appeared asking for his username and password. The potion's master would have rolled his eyes if he could at seeing someone stupid enough to use their own name as the password _and_ username to get onto a game.

When the loading screen came on after Dudley created his character, Severus gasped. On the screen was a boy with shimmering raven black hair, done up in many tiny braids that were secured with tiny bells on the end of each one. His skin was a dark tan and his bright green eyes alight with emerald fire. These details would normally not phase him, but from the boy's position on the screen, a lightning bolt scar stood out on his forehead, pale but glowing red on his skin, Harry Potter.

Severus stumbled back as he flew from the boy's mind, tripping back into a chair where he held his forehead in slight pain and his eyes wide with surprise. The two non-mind reading teachers both looked over to him with blatant curiosity, Hagrid firing off questions as if any of them could be understood from the man's panicked accent.

"Hagrid! Stop yelling like a stupid oaf and let me speak!" Severus growled at the half-giant, making him stop, a glare on the half man's face. Severus took a deep breath and let it out before beginning, "I know where the Potter brat is. His oh so loving uncle beat him into using accidental magic so strong it would not be possible to map out exactly what happened, but I know where to find him."

Severus stunned the three muggles, ignoring McGonnagal's protests, before leading them up the stairs and into Dudley's room. He sneered at the state of the disgusting room and the muggle appliances before using his gained knowledge to log in to Dudley's computer.

"Severus, what are you-", the question died in her throat as the dungeon bat found the game and booted it up, there, on the log in page, was the same picture of Harry from before.  
"The boy's magic reacted to his wish for sanctuary while the fat muggle child was first loading this game. My guess is the boy is actually inside the very game he's been playing for two years."

* * *

Ecklar smiled behind his face mask as he stood watching his nephew interact with the shy little girl. Tanee had not spoken a word and the tree only seemed to speak by rustling it's large leaves, meaning Etrigan provided most of the conversation. The assassin had to admit that when Etrigan sat the girl in his lap and the tree wrapped about them protectively, it made an adorable sight.  
This bout of relaxation however, had to be cut short so that he could continue his nephew's test. He coughed lightly to garner their attention before he produced one of his final three bloody branches (and damn were they expensive to get a hold of). Etrigan nodded to the branch and then looked to Tanee who was now scrambling up to sit atop her tree again.

Ecklar jumped back, finding refuge on a large boulder to observe the two before snapping the fourth bloody branch and starting the test up again. The familiar smoke was ignored this time in favor of readying weapons for a fight, Tanee holding her tree tight in case healing Etrigan became necessary again. The being coming from the smoke made Ecklar sigh in relief, this one would be an easy challenge for his nephew.

This new monster was bipedal yet feline in appearance. He was as wide as he was tall, puffy goldenrod fur striped in brown made Eddga instantly recognizable to the other three. The old tiger was sporting a black topknot upon his head and his eyes seemed to be pinched shut in a calm concentration. In his mouth was an old pipe that the beast was happily puffing away on, the smell of tobacco wafting of the tiger every so often.

Ecklar looked down at his nephew and nearly broke down laughing as he saw the boy twitch, as if to resist immediately tackling the wise beast. Rakkid, being a bit of a spoiled girl before her journey, had amassed a large collection of dolls which she had given to Etrigan to play with when he was younger, and his favorite would always be Eddga. A sudden loud squeal was heard echoing through the caverns as Etrigan jumped forward with no weapon in hand, and buried his face in the belly of soft fur. He hugged Eddga just like his doll at home, and this time Ecklar really did laugh at the happy boy and the very, very confused Eddga and Tanee.

The old tiger wondered about two things in his mind as he looked around him. One, where he was since this was obviously not the forest he had taken his daily walk in, and two, why was this strange boy squealing like a being possessed and hugging him? He looked around once more after wondering if he should attack the human when his eyes fell on Tanee, who was laughing quietly atop her tree, the plant's leaves shaking as if to express it's own amusement. Okay, make that three things he was wondering that he hoped to soon find the answers for.

"Tanee", Eddga's deep voice was slow and smooth as he took another puff from his pipe, "where are we and who is this clingy child?"  
More laughter bubbled out of Ecklar at this statement as the little girl was picked up from the tree by the tiger, Etrigan still snuggling Eddga and calling him "Eddy". After a whispered explanation of the day's previous events Eddga simply nodded once before a large paw patted the girl on the head and looked down at Etrigan.  
"Kid, my name is not Eddy, please stop calling me that.", Etrigan pouted at that which, despite previous thoughts of attacking him, he found adorable. Then he looked up at an amused Ecklar and stated, "I will spar with the little one if he promises not to kill me or hug me without my say-so again."

Ecklar nodded before Tanee's tree pulled a pouting Etrigan off of the tiger and the fight began. No weapons, no magic, only fists and fur flying as the two faced off like a friendly practice.

* * *

Dumbledore looked on with twinkling, calculating eyes as he watched Severus' hands fly across the keyboard. The occasional click of a mouse the only sound in the room as the potion's master maneuvered through the game. Minerva was downstairs again watching the muggle-filth and Hagrid still sat against the front door. "Severus, what is this you are doing now?", he asked. Albus had heard of computers and the marvels of the internet from professor Burbage before, but the potions master seemed to be all over the place with the amount of windows he had open on the screen.

Severus pushed his hair back from his face before his fingers resumed scurrying across the keys, "I am using the internet to create an account on this game for our use headmaster.", He stated distractedly as he finished registering the account and then started a web-search. Severus turned to the manipulative old person, "there, I finished registering the account, now for an added edge. Headmaster, can you have Hagrid move this computer someplace more private in the muggle world? I can set up a hacking program to give us an advantage while searching for Potter". Albus nodded and called for the giant, very soon, Harry James Potter would be back where he belonged, in the line of fire.

* * *

Etrigan smiled as he once again rubbed his cheek on the soft bed of fur under him. After a good hour of sparring Eddga yielded to the boy and allowed him a prize of his choosing as was honorable. Etrigan chose for the old tiger to be his friend/ living plushy, and, honor bound, Eddga grudgingly agreed. Ecklar was trying his hardest to stifle his laughter as the old tiger grumbled affectionately while Etrigan cooed at him and petted his fur.

"Ummm, Etrigan, I think it's time to continue.", Ecklar stated as calmly as he could while his nephew pouted and slowly got up, Tanee taking over the petting and trying to undo Eddga's topknot to braid it. Ecklar made sure his little shade-dancer had his weapons ready before snapping the twig and tossing it a distance away from the old pile of broken branches Ifrit had come from. The tell-tale smoke was quick forming and the two friendly monsters stood on guard ready to hold the new adversary should it be too strong for Etrigan.

What emerged was an even more horrifying sight then Ifrit, not only because of it's power but it's very appearance. It's skin was white and it stood well above twelve feet tall head to foot, made taller by the fact the beast was levitating. The head and neck were one solid and long curved shape, he had no facial features other then his eyes, bright red and indifferent. It's arms were muscular on the upper half and even more so on the forearm. Around the beast's fists were a series of flame-like markings that glowed with a strange power, the same power flowing out of its wide back like an aura of menace. Etrigan stepped back quickly as Eddga whispered the monster's name, "Gloom Under Night, by Odin's might!"

Ecklar now jumped into the oncoming fray, no way would his nephew face THIS thing on his own, even with the two friendly boss monsters on his side. While Gloom readied his first attack, Etrigan took up his flute and began to play a song to boost Tanee and Eddga's attacks. Tanee rapidly fired projectiles from her tree and Eddga charged, distracting the mighty non-elemental monster while Ecklar went in for a sneak attack.

* * *

"That's it! Albus, Minerva, we're in!", Severus announced, quickly gathering the two older educator's behind him as he showed the tiny game character on the computer with the name "SevereSerpent" below it. The potion's master had been online for hours hacking the game and thus his character was over the maximum level cap. He had all of the skills for the classes hotkeyed into the little bars on the corner and the gear it was wearing were things that only the Game Masters should have. Naturally such a thing would draw attention, if not for the fact he was running quite a few programs in the background to cover his tracks.

"According to the message boards on the website, Potter's character is a sort of urban legend.", Severus explained. "In this game all characters are type-casted to a specific job of their choice and once they choose they cannot unlock the skills of the other classes. Potter, or 'the Shade-dancer' as he is known to the muggles playing, possesses the skills of two if not three classes in one character. Luckily enough the muggles have covered up this anomaly by speaking of him as a glitch in the game or at worst, a new boss monster that the game masters are testing to release."

The two other teachers digested the information Severus had gathered quickly, it was not much to go on, but if this "Shade Dancer" was truly Harry Potter, he must be found. Albus told Severus to start searching for the boy in game that was the source of the original message and question him on the rumor while Minerva went back to her room across the hallway from theirs at the Hotel. Severus started to explore the current town he was in and acted the part of a rumor-hunter diligently while Albus sat back and read through his spy's thoughts.

* * *

"Hyah!", Ecklar yelled as he finished a particularly brutal combo with his katars, each strike sent directly into the beast's fleshy side. He kicked off of the open wound to send himself into the air before firing as many poisoned throwing knives as he could. Etrigan was now dancing about the battlefield in the caves, both boosting the other fighter's power and dodging attacks as efficiently as he could. Tanee was holding her ground well as she separated herself to heal Eddga and Ecklar while her guardian forced Gloom away from her with it's many projectiles.

The monster was starting to scare all of the fighters with the way it reacted to the attacks, It did not roar or even flinch in pain, it merely attacked and defended despite it's injuries while moving closer to Etrigan with every second that passed. Ecklar tossed the last of the knives he had on him, burying the toxic blade into the shoulder of Gloom due to it's changing movement. The beast seemed to be tiring yet not slowing down from the poisons as it should, Eddga growled and sent a harsh punch to the beast's chest and was met with a firm wall of muscle that knocked it away without Gloom even looking at the tiger.

Etrigan had put away his flute and now had his whip in hand, it was spinning a deadly web about him as it lashed. When Gloom made his final approach to the boy he was met with walls of arrows, all varying in elemental affinity and all with peculiar cards attached to the fletchings. Ecklar dragged Eddga back and called Tanee to him as Etrigan yelled, "Symphony of Fate!"

The arrows that had embedded into the now halted Gloom were beginning to smoke, the shafts turning a dull orange color. Etrigan snapped his whip and charged, the heavy chord resonating with magic as it struck each of the cards he had placed on the arrows. His powerful skill enacted, Etrigan kicked off of Gloom's odd head and was promptly thrown upwards by the explosion of all of the magic of his tarot being activated at once. The dancer boy was thrown by the power of his own magic against a wall, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

Severus let loose a yawn as he leaned back in his chair in a huff. He was not pleased by the way these impertinent brats acted whenever he so much as asked a question. All he was met with was either insults about his mother or silence as thy ignored him, clearly he would have to find the Shade Dancer on his own. Albus had sent him out earlier to find another computer for himself and he had just finished setting up a new account and the hacking tools necessary for them to play, now the old bastard was sitting on the bed, eyes twinkling as he tried to play. The headmaster was a class called the Champion, a type of heavy hitting fighter class made for hunting the toughest of monsters then striking them down with a single hit.

Right now Severus' own character was sitting beside the headmaster's, the combination of a champion and a scholar drawing many potential new allies to them by advertising as a boss-hunting party. It was under this ruse that Albus found their first lead, a rumor about three players never leaving an island town, sometimes even managing to do the impossible and go into a house with no way inside possible for the game. Albus and Severus were quick to close up shop and warp to the town in question.

When they arrived they split up, conversing what they had found in what location of the map to be sure they had gotten everything. The potions master searched through the homes he could get inside of and then the perimeter of the town while Albus conversed with the players as he had the people skills to actually get information from the little bastards.

When they met at the stage area near the mountainside of Comodo they compared notes while their characters sat for the show, Severus sitting between the headmaster and a gypsy NPC named Rakkid.

* * *

A sudden overwhelming force had downed them, Eddga, Tanee, and Ecklar were all forced to the ground. Sinking into the hard dirt while Gloom held them that way without even raising a finger, Etrigan seeming to be unaffected by the overwhelming force. Ecklar yelled in protest and anger as the foul creature stepped forward and placed his oddly shaped palm on his nephew's forehead. Gloom's aura surged from his back in flickering waves, flashing a multitude of colors as if trying to communicate what he was about to do. Then, like a campfire that went untended, the aura slowly sank back to it's original flame-like appearance and released the heavy weight of the fighters.

Ecklar stood quickly and readied his deadliest poison but before he could get Gloom's attention Tanee's tree shuffled it's way between them, as if knowing exactly what had happened and choosing the side of the beast that had come from the latest branch. Gloom lowered his palm from Etrigan's forehead, taking the time to gently push the hair out of the boy's face then turning to Tanee and the others.

"_I believe it will be easier to communicate now that I have sampled this one's knoledge_", a strange voice boomed through the cave, Gloom's aura rising and falling with each word that the two monsters and the human heard. Ecklar's jaw was on the floor, as was Eddga's, Gloom Under Night was silent because he couldn't_ talk_! The tree's leaves were rustling again, laughing at the looks on their faces before Gloom continued.

"_Thank you for bringing me here, I have been sealed in Rachel's dungeons for the longest time_.", The specter stated in his soft yet unemotional voice as he let his stubby legs finally touch the earth, Tanee moving past him to wake Etrigan. Gloom looked to the dazed boy slowly getting up before speaking, "_This one's strange cards acting together provided enough magic_ _for myself to break the seal the priests of Rachel_ _placed upon me, and for that you have won my favor._ _USE IT WELL HUMAN_", and with no other words spared to the wide-eyed humans and tiger, disappeared in a flash of blue light. There was silence around the cave aside from the rustling leaves of Tanee's tree, three shocked faces now stood side by side while Tanee calmly sat back on her perch.

"I-I think w-we're... done f-for today...", Ecklar struggled in his stupor, never in his life had he-nor anyone- EVER seen the world's strongest of beasts act like this, out of all of the monsters only The Bloody Knight and Ifrit were violent. Looking over to Tanee and Eddga he saw the tree heft up Etrigan with a squeak then place him on the old tiger's back, that was when he knew. Etrigan was by far the child favored by Odin, and possibly Loki, because no one else could ever be this fortunate, or have such a strange experience as this.

"So, uh, let's just...go...", the others nodded, Ecklar and Etrigan handing over the cloaks they had worn into the cave, the tree staying just outside the cave's entrance until night came. Eddga looked like a portly old man in the dark fabric, the image helped along by the old pipe he was puffing and the gnarled stick he found for completing the image. Tanee rode on Ecklar's back, giggling softly at being outside of her shrine for the first time in years and her new human friends. On the way out of the cave Ecklar tossed away the final bloody branch, he had had enough experiences with them today where he would never try them again. He would not risk his nephew's safety again, and his current mental state would not be able to handle another "Friend" that Etrigan might make.

* * *

It was a while that Albus and Severus waited for their information gathering to complete, simply sitting and watching the dancing NPC's while they talked on their findings outside the game. Through the chattering of the players and a few posters on the message board they had found that the Shade Dancer indeed frequented the town of Comodo and rarely left the safety of his nonexistent home. So now the two sat and waited, neither noticing the NPC Rakkid disappearing from her seat next to them, but with the waiting came impatience.

Albus left Severus to keep a sharp watch out for Potter while Albus made his character stand and start wandering the island. Once he reached the eastern edge of the island he found one of the caves that Severus had told him of. Upon passing by the strange tree that bent at the slightest breeze yet never broke, Albus wandered inside the cave. What he saw made him take pause however, "Severus, you say these dungeons are packed with monsters of the game's design, yes?" Severus nodded as Albus used his character to pick up the lone item in the cave, a stick.

"Then why does this dungeon appear empty?",Severus looked to the doddering old man's screen and found the cave was indeed barren of it's usual monsters. Severus moved his character quickly into the dungeon and the two stayed together as they searched through the narrow passages of the mountain's interior. It took them ten minutes to find themselves back at the entrance, and not a creature was in sight, that was when Dumbledore remembered the odd stick he had found in the entryway.

"Perhaps it acts as a sort of reset button for the dungeon?", he asked the potions master and before Severus could correct his notion, Albus activated the bloody branch some fool had left for him to find. A growl resounded through the dark cave as a large gust of freezing cold winds surrounded them.

* * *

**Ho Shit Son! Who the hell did Albus summon! If you guess right i'll write you a gift fic/oneshot, I want to thank all of my reviewers so far,this chapter is unbeta'd but I wanted to see how well i'd do writing this on my own. Please review! I love you all!**


	4. Baby Swordsman

Etrigan smiled as he entered his home, quickly ushering in the other three amused people with him before turning. Rakkid sat on the couch in front of him, one eyebrow quirked and arms folded over her chest, clearly questioning him with her gaze.

"uhhhh, hi Momma! The test went...Well~", Etrigan blushed and rubbed his hands together, stalling before deciding the best approach to the situation was simple, blame someone else.

"Ecklar used Bloody Branches on me! OH! We alsobroughthomeLadyTaneeandE ddga, BYE!", The words flew from the boys mouth before Etrigan was gone in a flash, not giving the others in the room a chance to contemplate the statement before he locked the door to his room. It was not until a good ten seconds later that Rakkid deciphered the verbal diarrhea and Ecklar became pale and twitchy at her glare. Tanee and Eddga were both on the floor laughing, a booming guffaw joining in with a quiet and shy giggle, further adding to the strange situation.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

"Rakky, wait I-!"

"ECKLAR! START RUNNING NOW!", Etrigan peeked out of his room's keyhole to see two blurs suddenly fly through the house and back outside, the old tiger and the little girl on the floor rolling around.

"Severus! What is this thing?", Albus asked with a worried tone as he and his spy ran through the caves, trying to find the exit to the dungeon. They were being pursued by whatever came from the branch in fear of their characters lives as the thing tried to freeze them in it's snowstorm yet again. The beast that came out of the branch appeared to be a sort of giant ice salamander, and it was very pissed off at the two it was chasing for waking it. It's head was large and wide, made of hard crystalline ice with a non-forked blue tongue and exhaling thick frost in every breath. It's body was long and growing long spiny, craggy bits of ice, a cold blue flame ridging it's entire back. Under the flame was the only hole in the icy creature, a black abyss contained by the flames. And the danger level was amped up when the two magical men saw it's club of a tail, long and thick with a broad, spiked end.

"He's a boss monster, Albus! The branch you used is a rare item for summoning them, this one is called Ktullanux, usually you need a quest to summon him but the branch brought him right to us!", Severus said as he double-casted his lightning bolt spell on the thing they were running from, doing substantial damage but also putting him in the line of fire for another Storm Gust, freezing him in place. Albus chose this moment to abandon his pawn but was unfortunate enough to run right into the cave's original boss, Tao Gunka.

Tao was a floating rock with a face, mossy and ugly with four similar rocks orbiting around him. He did not look like much at first glance, but he was a very powerful monster in his own right, and Albus found out this fact when one of his attacks knocked him back right into a second Storm Gust.

Both professors were at maximum level, with hacking programs in place and impossible to attain weapons. They died in all of two minutes with the odd tag-team forcing them to be frozen then bashed repeatedly.

It was a full two hours later before Rakkid dragged home a heavily beaten and bruised Ecklar, whom was only able to make small pathetic whimpering noises. The sight that greeted the mother and heavily beaten "elite" assassin was little Etrigan sitting in the lap of Eddga, snuggling into his fur. Tanee was on Eddga's shoulder, carefully braiding his hair after releasing it from it's normal topknot style. The large golden tiger was taking the pampering in stride as he told Etrigan of his many battles in defense of his home-forest. Rakkid was hard-pressed not to grab her camera to take a picture of the peaceful and adorable sight.

Ecklar recovered enough from his "Rakkid Rage" injuries to stand and talk now as the gypsy sent a glare his way that nearly had him wetting himself. "You will tell me all about what happened during his test and I swear if my baby got so much as a bruise I will end the life of all your future children before they have a chance to be conceived!", This made Ecklar squeak and cover his groin in terror, Tanee looking to the gypsy in admiration of her strength and Eddga feeling pity for his fellow man. The moment passed however, when Carrigan walked through the door, "I'm ho-ho-ho-HOLY SHIT!" He yelled as he saw his son in the lap of the elder tiger and the little girl before attempting to grab his lute in defense of his baby boy. This plan backfired however when Rakkid snatched the string instrument off his back first and smacked it over the back of his hand for using naughty language around her "innocent little Etrigan".

The three on the floor giggled at the very confused look on Carrigan's face as he rubbed the feeling back into his hand while Ecklar forced the musical couple onto the couch to begin explaining what happened to cause the friendly monsters' appearance in their home. Ecklar praised his nephew's skill in battle as he talked about his defeat of the Bloody Knight, making Rakkid hug her boy in pride for his use of the Tarot. They became confused at the experience of the second monster immediately warping away until Tanee blushed and hid herself behind a giggling Etrigan. When Ecklar got to the point where Ifrit was summoned Ecklar, Etrigan, and Tanee all lowered their heads, two out of sadness, and one out of fear. Rakkid had to be held back from beating her brother again when he told her of Etrigan's near death, Eddga barring her way in a tight bear-er, tiger hug. The little Shade-dancer's parents let out calls of victory and pride when he told them how he and Tannee had defeated the flame fiend with the help of the Lady's tree.

"Then we cracked the fourth branch, and Eddga showed up..." Ecklar did not bother holding back his laughter now as he told his siblings of how Etrigan immediately tried to cuddle the old cat to death. Etrigan blushed furiously while the elder tiger grumbled good-heartedly, hugging his new charge close. This only caused Ecklar, Carrigan, Rakkid, and Tannee to laugh more before continuing the story. At the end of it all Rakkid and Carrigan were in a state of shock while Etrigan was having a quiet giggle-fit with Tannee at his uncle's rather abrupt ending of "Gloom owes him a favor now". The couple stayed that way for so long that when Carrigan snapped back to reality his son and brother were dangerously close to his face with big grins on their faces and a black marker in each hand before they disappeared out the door laughing with Eddga making tea for himself and Tanee. The clown ran to the mirror and saw a pair of awful circle-framed glasses and a large handlebar mustache drawn on his face in permanent ink. Walking back in the living room he saw that Rakkid was similarly marked. She had a large black spot over her left eye like a Dalmatian and a large drawn-on wart on her opposite cheek. Fortunately, the laughing fit that ensued between the two at their appearance was enough for them to forget a revenge play on their son and brother, for now.

"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!", Severus groaned as Dumbledore threw his laptop off of the coffee table in his blind fury. They were about to leave the hotel room with Minerva when they decided to check Comodo island again for the Shade-Dancer only to find that their accounts had been banned for hacking. In a fit Bumblesores had thrown his laptop away from him where it cracked in half against the wall. Minerva looked at him in concern while Severus was pinching the bridge of his nose at the waste of 530 pounds. Albus ignored all of this as he told Severus to pack away his own laptop so that they may try again later, apparating away to Swine-boils with an angry CRACK!

Without so much as a "By your leave", Minerva and Hagrid portkeyed away as well, leaving Snape to himself, finally! He was quick to send a patronus to Albus explaining a complication with the computer and that he needed to smooth things out before coming back before he took down the screenshot of the ban message he showed the ancient cretin. The spymaster smirked as he logged back into the game, re-spawning on the shore of Comodo Island in front of the dock, if Lily's baby boy was here, it was his responsibility to warn him about Albus. He also might have to deal with that freaky ice lizard that was still wandering about in the cave... But first, Harry.

After Dinner, when Etrigan went to bed with Tannee using his arm as her pillow, the three siblings stayed up talking. The subject for their late night conversations usually varied but tonight it was on one subject, their little boy. Ecklar had a tumbler full of scotch at hand while Carrigan sipped his wine and Rakkid her coffee. They had pictures of little Etrigan through the years scattered about the table and they laughed with Eddga as they recounted the stories for him and themselves. The only interruption they had that night was from Tannee's tree sneaking into the house and somehow managing to hold the coffee pot to refill Rakkid's mug. Rakkid thanked the odd, moving foliage and gave it a smile that made it's bark darken a little before it skittered away to be with it's charges.

Eddga was about to tell one of his stories about his home-forest, wanting to bring his new humans to his pride as guests someday when a panicked scream from outside the open window gave them pause. They all stiffened in their seats as the heard a loud angry roar follow the scream accompanied by the coldest wind they had ever felt on the island. The four were shoving their chairs back in a rush to leave, Rakkid running to Etrigan's door and waking her son and Tannee, the tree slithering out of the window to defend the home. Something dangerous was on the island, and because Etrigan had earned his rite to be called a warrior today, he would finally stand with his parents and uncle on the battlefield. Tannee whispered quietly, "i'll stay here to heal you, but my Kraben can help!"

She seemed happy to be helping as she dug into the pockets of her dress and pulled out five little toy soldiers before dropping them on the floor. The little toys quickly grew to about a foot high, shirtless with dull yellow skin and blue pants. They looked very plain in appearance and on their arms were two wooden round-shields that looked like they would hurt when they struck someone. Tannee told the little monster-dolls to obey Etrigan before they nodded and marched out of the house in two lines like soldiers. Etrigan himself was quick to grab his whip and flute, tucking the instrument into the waistband of his pants in a rush to get outside. The boy walked out of his house shirtless and missing his shoes, which turned out to be a mistake when he felt the freezing winds rise up and smack into his bare chest. He repressed a shudder as Ecklar threw his cloak over his nephew before they all began to search in groups of two for the disturbance. The group of Eddga and Ecklar went towards the northern caves, Carrigan and Rakkid towards the eastern caves and Etrigan and the tree with Tannee's Kraben to the West.

It did not take Etrigan long to find the source of the first scream when he came to find a man in a fight with one of the biggest lizards he had ever seen! The man was dressed like a scholar of Yuno, and a very experienced and wealthy one at that. He had a black fox pelt about his collar like a muffler, and a black cable-knit vest. Around his forearms were tied flowing sleeves in a midnight blue color and draped away from his hands like a ceremonial kimono does. His pants were black and made of a shiny cotton for comfort and maneuverability and on his feet were the legendary Sleipnir boots! Etrigan had to do a double-take when he saw them and yet still the man struggled against the frozen salamander. The two combatants were just outside the Western Cave of Comodo, the scholar being pressed against the shore beside the cave by the beast's attack. The Scholar, however, was no pushover as he casted elemental magics in both hands and kept the beast from landing a clean hit by using his magic to conjure up a Blinding Mist and a Safety Wall for himself.

Tannee's Tree('I really should name him soon', Etrigan thought) rustled it's leaves to get Etrigan back on track, making the boy jump, but the already battling two stayed on focus. Etrigan whistled sharply to draw the attention of the lizard, giving the man a chance to scramble around him quickly to find a better position. Etrigan called to his forces as Ktullanux seemed to freeze at the sight of(what it considered) a child on the field of battle, and that was all Etrigan needed as he had the Kraben to charge on the much larger reptile. Etrigan looked to the man now at his side staring at the little monsters attacking before he readied his whip and spoke, "to whom do I fight along side with tonight?"

Severus was loathe to admit he was having a difficult time handling the lizard creature he counted as his responsibility. Albus may have summoned it but he could never tell the old meddler that the game was still working for him. No way would Albus get Lily's baby that easily. So naturally he was surprised when he was saved from a difficult situation, pressed between an ice giant and the ocean, by these strange yellow little men and a moving...tree? It took severus a moment, staring at the screen for his laptop, for the image to process, before he quickly moved his little character around the battle zone and circled back beside a player he had never seen before. The androgynous male had a character sprite totally unique to Ragnarok Online with his feminine clothing and long midnight black hair. He had only a whip and his hand which was a weapon that could only be used by the female Dancer class and when he finally spoke it was not through text but an actual voice spoke through the laptop's speakers.

"To whom do I fight along side with tonight?", Again Severus was stunned at the turn of events but was unable to type a response into his chat window before the yellow men were destroyed in a powerful Storm Gust courtesy of Ktullanux. Severus was quick to set himself and the apparent Shade-Dancer inside a pink Safety Wall for protection before typing, "I shall tell you if we survive this night!"

The potion master's hand flew across his keyboard, mouse clicking rapidly as he constantly distracted the frozen reptile, circling him and casting spells to get it's attention while using his thunder bolt spell to do damage to the giant Frost Titans the thing summoned for back-up. The Shade-Dancer and the tree worked in tandem, the boy using the whip to wrap around the tree's bough and letting the thing swing him at Ktullanux. Normally this was a dangerous method but Severus was surprised to find the boy bring out a crystalline flute of all things to smack the beast about for massive damage on each swing.

It was a good twenty minutes later when a loud shattering sound, like breaking glass, echoed through the speakers, the giant lizard disappearing in a spout of purplish-blue flames. Severus let loose a relieved sigh as he saw the thing disappear and in it's place, littering the ground, were it's dropped items. He ignored these however, in favor of moving back towards the boy and tree.

Etrigan gasped as the loud sound of Ktullanux being defeated was heard, the lizard letting out a pained keening sound that sounded like broken glass. The boy felt his heart break a little inside as the great ice beast stared straight into his eyes with it's last breath. The large flat head opened it's mouth slightly and finally exhaled, breathing a soft glowing blue mist at Etrigan that made his flesh tingle. The magic holding together Ktullanux finally ran out and, in a rush of mana-charged flame, was gone, leaving only items created by the remaining body of the creature. The beach was now silent of anything other then the lapping of the waves on the shore and the rustling of the trees' leaves.

Tanee's tree was quick to skitter about the battlefield, collecting the items that Ktullanux had left behind before Etrigan snapped out of his post-battle haze and made his way over to the human that had helped him defeat the giant.

"We have survived this night stranger, please come with me if you require medical aid.", The shade-dancer said quietly, as if afraid to disrupt the calm of the silent beach again, before calling out to the tree and heading back towards his home.

Severus stared at his laptop screen for a moment before he moved his mouse and clicked rapidly, hoping to keep up with the boy his lovely Lilly had produced. He was certain by now, from the way Harry fought the creature, that he was far more his mother's son then his father's; only Lilly would have such fierce tendencies, especially in battle. It wasn't until Harry led him to a house with no warp to go inside that he realized something, Severus could not enter the door that Harry had just gone through! He was about to make an Albus and throw his laptop away in frustration before Harry's arm popped out of the door and literally dragged him inside, forcing a warp to the supposedly uninhabitable house.

Once the loading screen had cleared Severus was shocked at what he saw, this house was definitely not part of this or any other game's world. It was like his character had been superimposed into a scene from a movie!

The wood of the floor shined a bright gold under the warm light provided by several glowing spheres of purest shaped crystal. The couch was a dark brown wicker loaded with puffy white cushions one could sink into and get lost. In the middle of the room between the couch and a matching chair sat a simple darkwood coffee table with a very soft looking area rug beneath it. Various instruments, from ancient looking wooden flutes to very intricate and elaborately designed harps. The family living here, Harry's adopted family, must have been collectors of the finely crafted instruments.

A throat clearing drew Severus' attention back to Harry, making him gasp, even he was no longer a low-detailed sprite of the game now. Lilly's beautiful gem-like eyes stared at him calmly while hair done up in many thin black braids shined under the light, seeming to draw it in so that it was made more stunning. His skin was a slightly tanned cream color and showed his time in the sun, as if kissed by the very light of it's rays. Severus was hard-pressed not to hug Lilly's boy when he looked into his eyes, he was simply adorable! Of course this action would have been considered at the very least strange and at worst hostile, which is why he supposed the strangely animate tree was now hovering behind him in case Harry needed his help. With a calm voice and a polite smile Harry said, "I believe we need to talk about what just happened, after all, a beast the likes of Ktullanux is never supposed to be in a tropical region. Care to explain?", Severus tried to think up a decent explanation while the trees leaves shook, laughing at him in it's own way.


End file.
